Above the Standard

Has anyone ever noticed that true greatness often goes unappreciated? At least, by a vast majority of people. We see it in sports all the time actually. For example, take Stan Musial. If you take a look at his stats, he is easily one of the greatest players to ever play the game of baseball. However, since he was in the same era of legends such as Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, who experienced the benefit of playing in the large markets of Boston and New York, he never really got the admiration of everyone at the same level of his peers. Even today, people know Stan the Man's name, but they don't think of him when legendary players are brought up and discussed. It's a sore subject with St. Louis Cardinal fans everywhere. On a much lesser level, the CHS Eagles and their fans can relate.
Last week, the Eagles kicked off their varsity season just like they do every year: in the annual Bank of Old Monroe tournament, hosted by the always-friendly Winfield Warriors. A few interesting story lines going into the tournament....

1) The Eagles were the reigning runner-ups. Zumwalt North delivered a crushing 2-point defeat on a last-second shot in last years championship game.
2) Winfield, perhaps Christian's biggest rival in basketball, started the season on the bubble for being ranked in STL Today's Small School Rankings for Boy's Basketball. Christian High, who was coming off a season where they beat Winfield by 20 points in the district final, was left off.
3) The tournament featured 3 GAC schools: Timberland, Zumwalt East, and Zumwalt North. The Eagles had played each team before, but every team was coming back stronger than before.

The first test for the Eagles came against the Timberland Wolves, a team that the Eagles visited in Wentzville and routed during the middle of last year's 19-9 campaign. However, the Wolves were returning players and looked to be a more disciplined team. It was at this time that the Eagles decided to unleash a new weapon on the world of their competition: sophomore Evan Marcks. The Marcksman (as he is being heralded by his fans) exploded in the Eagles first game of the season, going 5-8 from behind the three-point line, leading the Eagles to a convincingly easy 70-46 win over a Timberland team that, in my opinion, was much improved over last years squad. Adam Glenville, the Eagles returning leading scorer promptly added 16, and the Eagles cruised to an easy win in their first contest. Next up: Winfield.

This was an interesting matchup to me for multiple reasons. For one thing, was Winfield really worthy of their status in the preseason rankings? Maybe they'd gotten better over the course of the offseason. Also, WInfield always seems to play the Eagles hard, especially in their own gym. Their fans, while obnoxious at times, are rowdy and are really a factor in how their team plays. They were no doubt aware that they had never beaten the Eagles in a contest before. Obviously, a beginning of the year showdown at their place would be the place to do it. To establish themselves for the first time in a rivalry that includes only losses. Wednesday night rolled around and Winfield came out strong. The Eagles couldn't find their stride and went into the half only winning by 3 (thanks to another 3 by The Marcksman at the buzzer.) Half time, however, proved beneficial for the Eagles. Coach Dave Meers got the Eagles back out on the court in the third quarter and enjoyed a quarter that saw the Eagles outscore their rivals 24-8. In the end, the Eagles once again found themselves on the winning side of the Warrior-Eagle rivalry. Yes, that makes it 12-0 all-time.

Finally, it was time for rematch. On the other side of the bracket, Zumwalt North (on the large school bubble) and the Glotta clan (Chaz, Zach and their dad, the coach) had done their job of cleaning out Wright City and Zumwalt East. Of course. What a story. Redemption time for the Eagles. Statement time for the Panthers. It was setting up for an intense Tom Ginnever battle. Friday night came and the scene was just perfect. The student sections were screaming at each other, the players were locked in and a first-place prize was hanging in the balance. Scene: Set.

The game started out just as it had last year, a neck-in-neck battle for the lead. A steal here, a block there and two squads that knew just how important this game was. At half, the Eagles had built a lead of 6. Half time was where things began to fall apart a bit in last years contest. So how would the Eagles respond to the small, but nowhere near comfortable cushion they had given themselves? They responded with a quarter that saw them build their lead to 12, all but locking up the game. From there, it was all them. And when the buzzer finally sounded, Eagles everywhere could glance at the scoreboard and see that the redemption was indeed complete.

Eagles-60. Panthers-50.

The Eagles were champions. In a game where they never doubted themselves, the Eagles handily defeated one of the best teams in the St. Charles area. A team with two dynamic scorers. A team that won the GAC North the previous year. You get it. Zumwalt North was no pushover. And with the win, the Eagles proved they're no pushover either. So in review of the first week of the season, let's take a look at some surprising and not-so-surprising stories.

Not-So-Surprising

Adam Glenville

I know anytime a player averages 20 points a game, fans tend to go "Wow, he's really good." But come on, were you really expecting anything different from this guy? For two years now, Glenville has been wowing fans of all schools with his diverse style of play. His height allows him to grab rebounds and put back missed shots. His athleticism allows him to drive to the hoop and get fouled. His shot allows him to spot up and hit deep jumpers. Adam is by far one of the most well-balanced players to come through CHS. He is dedicated to being a great player and hustles on the court, attributes that will make any player better, no matter how much raw basketball skill they have. In the tournament, Glenville improved with each game, scoring 16, 20 and 23 points, respectively. He set the pace for each game, inside and out, on the court and off. He is everything a leader and captain should be and he embodies the level of play of great Eagles that came before him. And in the end he got to celebrate a First Place finish and an MVP award. And the awesome thing is, he wants so much more.

Deantrell Prince

The man who does it all on the football field is now stepping into his role on the hardwood. Prince emerged from the season as a starting guard and did a little bit of everything on the court. He averaged 13.3 points a game and led the team in FT percentage at 63%. Most importantly, however, he stopped the firestorm that is Chaz Glotta. Granted, Glotta scored 17 points in the championship game, but most of them came from the charity stripe. He only hit one three in the game, and it came on a one-handed toss up in an attempt to get fouled. Prince effectively shut down the Panthers best player and threw in some steals and breakaway layups to boot. He is also impressing with his ability to bring the ball up the court. Needless to say, Prince is shining and just like Glenville, did you really expect different?

The Triple Threat

You can spot the Triple Threat from the top row of any game you see them at, sporting the teal laces on their black Nikes. The Triple Threat is the anchor of this team. It features the Eagles top scorer, the floor general and the most dominating big man that the Eagles have. In the Winfield tournament, the Triple Threat averaged 32.4 points. Norwine is a more prominent feature in the offense now, averaging 8 points a game. Pickett has found consistency under the basket as a rebounder. And I don't need to talk about Glenville anymore. This trio of seniors is going to lead this team to very good things this year.

Surprises

The Marcksman

Ok, so we all knew Evan would be good. But...wow. Who knew he'd be this good. In his first three games of straight varsity play, Marcks hit 8 threes and averaged 10.3 points. And teams are already starting to take notice. In the championship game against North, every time Marcks hit the floor, North's best defender was all over him. And while The Marcksman's stats took a hit, this helped the team quite significantly. With Zach Glotta on Evan like flies on an old sandwich, Coach Meers was able to keep the ball movement flowing, especially up top, where Glotta had been causing some problems. And you have to remember, not every team will key on Marcks, and even the teams that do will have to contend with him. Marcks showed Eagles fans that he is going to be a very serious contributor on this year's team.

The Bench

I know this may seem strange considering I wrote about this in my first blog this year. But I still feel like it deserves a mention. Coach Meers used his bench to perfection in the first week of the season. He has a wealth of scorers, defenders and hustlers sitting next to him every night. Last week, we saw Frank Davis and Kameron Dunlap make huge defensive contributions. Marcks provided an enormous boost for a bench that contributed 17.3 points a game. That is going to be a huge factor as the season goes on and I expect Coach Meers to continue to be brilliant. After all, he's now 64-21 in his time with the Eagles program. He didn't get that record by accident. He's a fantastic coach and this deep bench of talented young men allows him to effectively manage his team.

Finally I want to get to the surprise that most people have been talking about, especially today. It's the thing that inspired the title of this post. On Monday afternoon, the updated weekly rankings came out on STL Today. Like I mentioned, two of the Eagles opponents had been featured as "bubble" teams in the preseason. The Eagles beat both of these teams in impressive fashion. Yet, when the new rankings came out today, the 3-0 Eagles were once again left off. I know a lot of player and fans were upset. And I'll be the first to tell you that I think the St. Charles Journal is a joke, especially with the rankings (ask anyone who has heard me talk about it.) The guys earned a spot on that list. But then I had a bit of an epiphany. So the Eagles were left off some list of good teams in the area? So what? The Eagles know they earned a spot on that list. And according to last week's standard, the Eagles should be there. But we all know that. If some sub-par sports writers can't see that, then the Eagles have more important things to worry about. They'll get there eventually. Right now, they're above the standard. And sooner or later, they'll get the appreciation that they're due.